Japan just made history with Starlink, and the next time disaster strikes, it will help save lives Shizuoka Prefecture's official disaster app now works over satellite, the first local-government disaster app in Japan to do it, per Chunichi Shimbun What changes for residents: • App runs on docomo Starlink Direct, powered by SpaceX's Starlink Mobile, since Nov 9 • Works with no cell signal, in mountains, on islands, or when a quake knocks out towers • Get official alerts and find the nearest open evacuation shelter • Included on all docomo plans, no sign-up needed • Tested in Kawanehon town in October before launch Disaster apps have always had one fatal flaw: they need a signal, and the network is often the first thing to go down in an earthquake or tsunami. Now the warning reaches your phone straight from space The app's developer runs disaster apps for 20 other municipalities and plans to bring this to them too The next time the towers fall, the sky stays connected. Starlink becomes a lifeline